Eien wo te ni Iretai
by Red Wings
Summary: Eternity in one's hands...the beginning of forever...(a Sou/Misao fic)
1. Ichiban: Deaeta

Eien wo te ni Iretai  
  
By Red Wings  
  
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters in the RK world. Watsuki-sama does.  
  
A year had passed since his days of Kuni Tori with Shishio. Still wearing his light blue gi and dark blue hakama and walking in worn sandals, Seta Soujirou had roamed over Japan with a smile on his face, a torrent of emotions stirring inside of him. Excitement, a new sense of freedom, and a little bit of fear made his stomach churn. He was going to search for the truth, his own truth, rather than having to go by Shishio's philosphy of 'The strong live, the weak die'.  
  
Shishio-san believed in that. Himura-san believed in protecting the weak. What do I believe in?  
  
Soujirou still wasn't sure of himself. He felt a hollow within his soul that had been widening during the time he had began to wander. A terrible urgency nagged at him often at times. He felt that if he couldn't find his own truth soon, he could never have peace with himself.  
  
Peace? For having killed my family long ago? For having chosen to become an killer at the risk of my own life?  
  
There was that.  
  
He had felt regret and guilt at what he had to do just to live. But he couldn't just let them kill him. He wanted to live.  
  
That was the truth he had found out after wandering and sitting by the campfire and remembering his past. He wanted to live. Plain and simple as that. He had done what he did because he wanted to live. Was there anything wrong in living?  
  
Of course not. Which was why he had taken it upon himself to journey for 10 years, just like Himura-san. It had taken Himura-san that long just to find his own truth. Then he settled down with Kamiya-san and found some other people who accepted him and then they formed a family of sorts.  
  
This was a lovely picture, but it was not what Soujirou wanted. Himura-san had what he didn't, and that was peace with himself. Himura-san had been the Hitokiri Battousai. He had slain many men before Soujirou's time, then disappeared, becoming a rurouni instead, wandering Japan for 10 years, helping the weak and defending the innocent. At least Himura-san knew what he believed in. He gained his peace after 10 long years with Kamiya-san. Soujirou knew he earned it.  
  
But what about me? What do I want to do? What do I believe in? How long do I have to keep going? These questions sounded on and on in his head. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and relax. My journey had been only for a year, and I have 9 more to go.  
  
I'm much more impatient than I thought. Patience is a virtue, went the old saying.  
  
It hadn't been long before he realized that he had been walking through the streets of Kyoto.  
  
People walking to and from places, men in gi and hakamas, women in flowered kimonos chatted intimately with one another. Children walked hand in hand with their mothers or fathers, or simply ran through the crowd in plain old fun. Inn keepers calling out to rest and stay at their inns. Adults ushering in and out of some restaurants from the left or right of him. Kyoto was the heart of Japan since ancient times, now a bustling city moving towards reform.  
  
Soujirou passed this, eyes glancing here and there in familiarity. He had been part of the crowd, well, at least hiding amongst the crowds doing secret missions for Shishio. The people were the same to him----a passing afterthought. There was nothing about them that caught his eyes. The shades of brown and gray were nothing amazing. The people were more like sheep, drifting amongst the crowd in the same march everyday. But then again, he himself wasn't anyone to judge. He was a hitokiri once, now a rurouni, who would want to know the likes of him? Perhaps it was better to be a sheep, who had normally content life if still a bore. Then at least no one would be after your head.  
  
He walked on, passing through the herd of people in front of him.  
  
Soujirou had no plans to stay in one place for too long. After all, he was a rurouni now, and he had to atone for his sins and find his own truth to live by. That was his sole purpose in life.  
  
He wasn't counting on stopping short under this one tree, as he was walking by. He was so stuck in his own thoughts, that when he looked up, rays of sunlight filtered gently through the green leaves and branches.  
  
The distinctive snap of a branch was heard. The rustling of the wind through the leaves and branches as the sound seemed to escalate further into a hurried rush, colors of purple and pink flashing from above, there was a cry, then-----  
  
He was lying on the ground, a throbbing pain in his forehead, and the feel of light weight on top of him.  
  
It was quite a daze. He didn't know whether to get up for fear that the person lying on top of him was still unconscious. However, he was not about to lie here in an uncompromising position. What would people think when they saw him like this? Like he really cared about that. But then he didn't want to stay like that for long.  
  
Well, no use being indecisive about this. He was going to do it anyways.  
  
Sitting up, he smiled close-eyedly at the girl and asked in a concerned, friendly tone "Daijoubu desu ka?"  
  
*Tsuzuku*  
  
Translations:  
  
Eien wo te ni Iretai: To want to hold eternity in your hands (or something like that)  
  
Daijoubu (desu ka): Are you alright/ok?  
  
A/N: My first Sou/Misao fic. Subaru Shojo has been so gracious as to co- write this with me. I've been a fan of hers as well as several other sou/misao authors. To anyone who wants to, comments and flames are welcome with open arms.'Til the next chapter, jaa. 


	2. Niban: Yoroshiku!

            A little girl was walking through the streets of Kyoto, carrying a cat in her arms. The cat was a plump, orange-coated tabby with amber slitted eyes. It seemed content with its master, giving no slight movements to get out of the girl's arms. However, the moment the cat turned its head, whiskers twitching, the tabby jumped out of the little girl's arms and upon the roof of one of one of the businesses of Kyoto. The girl cried out in dismay, arms reaching towards the sky, hoping for the cat to fly back into her embrace. When it didn't, she began to sob, putting her hands over her face.

            A girl with a long, black braid and bright green eyes saw all this, taking into the direction the creature went. She ran into an alley, then jumped up a roof and began to search for the lost pet. She ran and leaped across each roof in town, overlooking the streets to see if the cat was there. She continued roof topping until she was on the last tenement near the greenery of a forest. She jumped down gracefully on her feet.

            She walked into the forest, looking around for any sign of the orange tabby. Golden rays of sunlight shone through the leaves of a thick barked tree. _Should I go tree hopping? It would be good if I found it...she thought. She may be a ninja, but she was not cut out for looking for runaway cats. Demo, that little girl looked so sad…either way; she had to find that cat, because she, Makimachi Misao, does NOT give up so easily._

            Misao was about to walk past the tree when she heard a faint mewing sound from a bit higher to where she was. She looked around, checking for the source of the sound, but saw nothing. There was a higher pitched 'meow', to which Misao looked up. Resting on a high branch was a plump, orange tabby looking at her through amber slitted eyes. The cat gave another meow before turning its head to washing itself with its pinkish tongue.

            A wide smile spread from ear to ear. She finally found it! Now she had to get to the cat. "There you are! Your owner is so worried about you." Misao sprung into the air, landing on a lower branch. The cat watched Misao through bright yellow eyes, showing some interest in the ninja girl's actions. She jumped on from lower branches to higher ones, until she finally reached the cat's perch. The tabby's tail lashed around itself, seeming to wonder if Misao was a threat. The young kunoichi sensed the uncertainty in the cat's eyes and the way it crounched, as if it were ready to spring off to another branch if she made the faintest wrong move. 

            _Heh__…this could be a little bit tricky…I have to be really careful as how to approach the cat... thought Misao. She took a step towards the cat just to see if the cat would react badly. The orange cat locked gazes with Misao, amber slits meeting bright emeralds. "Daijoubu yo, neko-chan. I won't hurt you, I'm just here to take you back safely to your owner, that's all…" promised Misao, taking another step closer. That was as far as she would go. She did not want to scare the cat away now. Instead, Misao sat down where she was, her long legs dangling over the branch. _

            The cat stopped lashing its tail, watching the ninja girl across from where it perched. Misao took some sushi from a small pouch, taking a bite from it. The cat looked on curiously, rising from its current spot, sauntering on all fours toward the young woman. Surprisingly, the ninja girl held out a hand containing the half-eaten sushi towards the cat. It came over slowly to Misao, sat besides her, and ate from the palm of her hand. Misao patted the the top of the cat's furry head, making the tabby purr pleasurably at this. The cat came and sat on the girl's lap as Misao continued to stroke it. "Yatta!" exclaimed the ninja girl. She must've been so excited that she felt the wind rushing up at her. She was falling.

            The cat she had been holding had jumped out of her arms. Crying out in dismay, she thought. _Oh no! The cat..._ She fell past the branches and leaves as she felt herself being pulled down by gravity to the ground. It was a good thing the cat wasn't with her now. They'd both be crushed. With a woosh, she sped by more leaves and branches until she closed her eyes and tried to not hear her bones cracking on the hard, forest floor.

            She fell hard. However, instead of lying on the hard, cold ground, she felt she was lying on something warm and quite soft. Well, not too soft, as she could feel what she was lying on was as flesh and bone as she was. She got up and saw the face of a smiling young man with dark brown hair and closed eyes. "Daijoubu desu ka?" he asked politely in a concerned manner. He was wearing a light blue gi and a darker blue hakama with a grey,  western style shirt. Misao was a bit stunned, staring at him. _Baka__! Don't just sit there and gape at him! Do something! She stood up hastily and held her hand out towards him. "Gomen nasai! Eh, I'm ok, my forehead is throbbing a bit, but are you alright?" she asked him back. _

            "I'm fine, really…" but Misao didn't take his answer into consideration, for she rushed towards him and began patting him to make sure she didn't break his bones. He had broken her fall, but she still wondered if she broke him. She looked into his face and saw a faint purplish on his forehead. She almost didn't spot it because of his brown bangs that fell just above his blue eyes. "You have a concussion!" cried out the ninja girl. "I'm really sorry about this. Let's go to my house and fix this!"

            The boy shook his head, still smiling. "No, it's quite alright, its nothing. I'm just glad you're alright." 

            _He's so sweet! thought Misao. _I have to take him home and make sure he's not hurt badly._ She took his arm and began to lead him towards the city of Kyoto. A sharp pain shot through her left leg. "Itai…" she winced. She looked down and saw a scrape on the side of her calf. "Ehh, I thought you said you were ok," inquired the boy. "I am ok!" Misao replied indignantly. The boy shook his head in disagreement; one arm went behind her back as the other slipped behind her knees and lifted her off her feet effortlessly. Misao gasped in surprise. The boy smiled at her and said "I'll take you home, ne?"_

            The ninja girl shook her head vehemently at this, trying to wriggle herself out of his arms. "Mou! Don't carry me, I'm not a cripple!"

            "I know you're not, but it would be better not to aggravate the wound on your leg."

            "It's not a wound! It's just a scrape!"

            "Maa maa, let's just get you home and treat that for you."

            "Eh?! Like this? The Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu does not need to be 'carried' home! I'll walk, thank you!!"

            The boy winced at her shouts of indignation. "Okashira?" he inquired.

            Misao pouted. "That's right! Makimachi Misao does _not_ need to be CARRIED!!"

            The boy smiled at her good naturedly and said  "Boku wa Soujirou desu, Makimachi Misao-san. Douzo yoroshiku ne!"

            And so Soujirou carried Misao off to Kyoto, who continued to kick and scream at him to put her down. 

*Tsuzuku*

Translations:

kunoichi- female ninja

neko- cat

gomen nasai- I'm so sorry

itai- ouch, ow

mou- geez

douzo yoroshiku- pleased to meet you, lit. meaning "please treat me favorably"

A/N: Haaaan…::yawns:: it's been such a while since I've updated! I know I know, its just that summer break has made me quite languid, with school over and all, I've been taking a break from doing schoolwork and homework and all….well, since school's out, I will be updating more frequently from now on. Til the next chapter, mata ne!


End file.
